Smelting furnace



Dec. 28 1926. 1,612,571

H. L. CHARLES SMELTI NG FURNACE Filed Deo. 29' 1.925

ATTORNEY Patent-:cl Dec, 28, 1926.

' UNITED. STATES I HENRY L. CHARLES, OF KENT, WASHINGTON.

SMELTING FURNACE.

Application filed December 29, 1925. Serial No. 78,155.

My invention relates to improvements in smelting furnaces of the reverberatory type, and includes instrumentalities which make it particularly useful relative'to furnaces of large capacity.

Heretofore, in the building of furnaces of this class, the common practice has been to provide a horizontally disposed silica hearth, and in the operation of the same to maintain therein avvide bath of metal, this latter procedure requiring in many instances the tying up of a large amount of capital in metal.

In lthe interests of economy and facility` of operation, I provide, as the objects of my invention:

a longitudinally extending central mound, and, also integral Withfsaid bottom, a convexly shaped bank extending along each side and end of the furnace, the mound and banks While forming the hearth vand per.- forming the functions of the same yet serving to take the place of metal which would otherwise be tied`up. SaidV banks also subserve'the purpose of protecting the sides of,

the furnace, and permit, by reason of their form, ready repairs lfor corrosion, as will be hereinafter more particularly described. Other objects Will appear as the descripso tion of the invention progresses.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a cross section of the furnace drawn on the line 1--1, of Fig. 2; y,

Fig. 2, a plan view of the same, broken away, the firing end being indicated, but the flue end omitted; and,

Fig. 3, a longitudinal section through the line 3-3, of Fig. 2.

The base of the structure 1, constructed of concrete in the customary manner, supports vertically extending and parallel `side Walls 2, a Wall 8, representing the firing end, a flue end. which is of ordinary construction and hence not' shown, and an arched roof generally designated as 4.

The hearth, built up of silicious material, consists of an integral banked section 5, convex in form, extending along each side and en'd of the furnace, and having its upper terminal near the arch; in other Words, the

hearth is brought up adjacent the roof. s A

longitudinally extending mound portion 6,

integral with the banked section at the firing -end and the lowermost sections of` the hearth, divides the smelting zone of the hearth into two parts. This mound is den A silica bottom having integral therewithY signed Ato extend for abouttWo-thirds of the .length of the furnace, and it is provided at its free end with a pointed terminal 7. 8 and 9 denote the lowermost'sections of the hearth, disposed between the mound and the banked sections; 8, as it Wil` be noted in Fig. 1, being inclined and. s. ghtly higherv than the section l9. This inclined'section .and the pointed terminal of the mound are for the purpose of facilitating the flow 'of the metal into the me'tal bath 10 and out through the tap hole 11. The matte and slag lines, designated by 12 and 13 in Fig.

1, show where these lines should be most elfectively located when the furnace is operating under usual conditions, the matte hoppers upon deep accumulations ofthe.

molten material. Corrosion in the sides of the hearth Will take place particularly at the points Where the slagv and' matte lines meet,

causing, by reason of the bulging contours of the sides, the formation therein of convenient recesses for the reception `of fettling material. The two hoppers, located adjacent the sides and directly above these points,'are designed primarily for the purpose of feeding such material to the sides. This material may include magnesite, either ground `or in other suitable form, chromite, or ground magnesite brick bats corroded with a basic slag, such as can be-reclaimed out of the tuyres of a converter. Obviously, the thick embankments afford more protection to the sides of the furnace than that usually provided, and their convex form makes'the application of the repair material. more easy and effective than Where the sides of the Ifurnace present inverted or angularly-disposed sections, incident to the ordinaryconstruction, or side feeding.

The utilization of large furnaces of this class, entails the tying up of large sums of money in metal in order to maintain the molten material at the proper level and confine the corrosive action of the smelting op- Aeration to denite areas of the furnace. The central mound portion is designed to vtake vth ,r place of metal which would otherwise he tied up, vand in dividing the smelting E zone, as itdoesydeep masses ofthe molten material are attained, having comparatively wide receptive Surfaces for the charges to alinpon, and at thesame time said materialV is brought relatively close tothe arch, with wir* the result that the charges yare sucgected to an intense radiant heat from the arch itself,

as Well as `the eXtra heat generate'dby -theV deep masses of the material.

Thisconstruction also makes possible the l use of the vfurnace in smelting ores of dif-v ferent kinds, as, for instance, one side may be used for treating` gold and silver ores, andthe other side used'only for the treatment of ores o copper, lead,V iron or zinc;

thatis te say, a very stubborn or hardsmelt- Wing ore may be treated on one sideand. an easily smclted ore treated on the other., side. Further, to make the fprnace practically in e Wedestrnctible,Y Y y,the Aalternatelieed in fr ofte the lfiqhard smelting or refractory ores from one side to the other may be' employed, which will effectively Vprevent injurious corrosion of the sides at all. AnotherA useful result is also obtained, in that one side'may be kept ifully of Vore at all tinesfvvhile theother "isideY isV keptY inY `molten condition, the ore 1receiving indirectly the benefit' of the heating treatment Adirected toY the other sidev andV l being adapted tobe more'quicklyV actedlnpon by the Haines when subjected thereto. v Y Y NAS Will be obvious to those skilledifill the' art, changes in and modication's'of the construction described may be made Without departingirom the spirit of my'invention x40 or sacrificing its advantages.

Iclaimzf Y,

l. In a smelting furnace havingvertically 'extending s ide and end Walls, a roof, a firingend and a flue end, a hearth provided -with a convexly shaped integral bank exy lte1`1din,f 1; along'each side and end Wall and terminating adjacent the roof, and a longitudinaly eteiiding and integral mound disposed in spaced relation between the banks at the side Walls, one end lof the mound being contiguous with the bank at the tiring end, and the other end semiconical 2. In a smelting furnace having vertically extending side and end Walls,`a roof and a stap: hole, a hearth provided Withy a thick convexly shapedV integral' bank. Vextending aiongc'achfsideand"endWail 'andsterminatfV Y ing adjacent the roof, and 4a longitudinally extending and integggral mound disposed in spaced relation between the side banks, one 'end of the mound being 4contiguous with the bank at one end Wall,.and the other end reduced in size andterni'inating adjacent the tap hole. s

13. ln a smelting 'furnace having side Walls, a firing end,va flue end and a roof, a hearth, disposed inthe'bottomF of ythe "far-A nace, provided with an'lnwardl'y bil'ging hank extending contiguonsly'vvithsaid Walls and ends and terminating adjacentl the roof,

in term and spaced away from the'ba-nkat' and a longitudinallyextending mound dis,-

t posed in spaced Yrelatlonwith theside Walls, said mound lbeing contiguous with the firing endend yterminating short of the ue end.

\ 4. Ina smelting furnace having, a hearth disposed in the bottom thereof, a mound, in-

-fftegral with the khearth`adapted to partition the" smelting zone; of Athehervrtl'i displace vcharges of ores, and moltenfinater'ial, during the sxneltin'gcperation, and whereby the Vdep'thuoi the bath is materialiy' increased.

' 5. 'ina furnacefor'smelting ores having side Walls, arring en'd,.'a iue end, and a hearthV disposed '1n `thebottoni or the Vurnace, a longitudinally extending-mound cntiguouswlth the iring end and Vterminciting short of the v'lue end, said mound being spaced away from the side walls; 

